I’ve had time to reflect on a recent post, the one just before this, on VQA wines stores and a perception that I had about the Niagara wine industry’s largest lobby group, the Ontario Wine Council.
The post drew a lot of response, most of it through DMs (direct messages) on Twitter, email and directly from wine consumers and Ontario wine industry folks who weren’t shy to respond “off the record.” There are an awful lot of opinions out there — most who want better access to local wine, but some worried that a freer system would lead to problems.
Moving toward a more equitable process of getting good Ontario VQA wines into the hands of consumers is not new. But never has interest been so keen. Consumers seem to finally understand that if we fight for change collectively, something can be done to convince those with all the power to get us where we want to go.
I agree with a lot of what the Ontario Wine Council does. It has made incredible in-roads at the LCBO, fought hard to separate good VQA wines from internationally blended wines on LCBO shelves and is a tireless promoter of Ontario wines. Many of the great wine promotions that take place in our province are because of the hard work of the wine council and its energetic, committed staff. The organization has a big job balancing what’s good for the industry and consumers while being effective at Queen’s Park as a lobby group.
Many of the same frustrations we have as consumers are felt equally and more so by the wine council. It’s extremely difficult to move a mountain that doesn’t want to be moved. There is much at stake. Push too hard, too quickly and doors start shutting pretty fast. You become ineffective. I am not a lobbyist and don’t pretend to know how the relationship works from winery to wine council to government.
I do know that change is very slow in coming, in part because we (the consumers) aren’t a loud enough voice to have any meaningful effect on government and, by extension, the LCBO.
We have been close to change in Ontario in the past. The Mike Harris government had a plan it was set to unveil, sources have told me, to privatize the LCBO. But the plan never saw the light of day just as that Tory government was headed into its last days of governing this province during its spectacular collapse.
The Liberals have virtually no stomach for change when it comes to the LCBO. It has said so repeatedly and even the MPP for St. Catharines, Jim Bradley, doesn’t exude a whole lot of optimism that things will move forward any time soon under the Grit regime. There is too much at stake, not the least of which is a backlash from the extremely powerful union that represents LCBO workers. A decent voting block for a party that, if polls are correct, appears to need all the votes it can get.
Which brings us back to the Tories. Tim Hudak — who leads Premier Dalton McGuinty in the polls with an election set for next October — told the Toronto Star recently that, while he is opposed to privatizing the LCBO, he doesn’t like the way things are going now.
“Folks know that I’ve always stood for more choice in the system. A little bit of competition — keeping the LCBO, but allowing other stores, like VQA wine stores, to compete or offer some of our award-winning products that you can’t get at the LCBO,†the Tory leader was quoted in the Star as saying.
Hudak, whose riding of Niagara West-Glanbrook includes some of the Ontario’s top wineries, has said on the record before that he supports Vintners Quality Alliance stores — similar to those in British Columbia. Hudak doesn’t worry about that VQA stores would violate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Opening VQA stores in Ontario is a small step, and maybe all we can hope for in this lifetime, in the right direction. And it certainly looks like, for the very first time that I can remember, we will have choice when we head to the polls next year — the Liberals, pretty much happy with the status quo, or the Tories, who seem willing to shake things up a bit.
A lot of my previous post was directed at the wine council executive and its leader, Hillary Dawson. It was a knee jerk reaction to something that I am passionate about. It was perhaps misguided in that Dawson and the wine council want exactly the same thing we all want — better access to good Ontario wine.
That’s something we can all work together on. Afterall, if we can open up a VQA wine shop in China, certainly we can do it here. Can’t we?
If everyone gets onside, we will have our first VQA store in St. Catharines in no time at all. Stay tuned, and maybe we will have some good news.
Great post Rick, especially if the hurdles that “apparently” exist can indeed be overcome. I’m not entirely cynical of politicians (even though I am from Ottawa), but many of them seem to have a hard time recalling what they promised leading up to the election. Perhaps a loud, concerted voice to remind them is all that is needed…
Sounds like you have some inside info. I hope you are right, Jeff!
I was a little surprised to read that Tim Hudak is going into a election saying VQA stores are a priority of his. But, good for him. It might even spur the present government to make some changes BEFORE the election. Now that would be something.
I agree that more could be done to highlight Ontario Wines, but I would say that Ontario along with BC have done an excellent job of promoting themselves to consumers when compared to other jurisdictions in Canada.
What I would say is that Ontario wines would do well to increase sales in other provinces. In Québec for example it is next to impossible to find many of Ontario’s wines, except for the standard offerings from the large corporate properties. Quebec is Canada’s leading wine market with wine sales surpassing hard liquor sales, so increasing sales there could really improve economic outlooks for our vineyards.
Excellent point, Eric.